Oroboros Libraries

On the surface, the Oroboros Libraries are a private library system with branches scattered throughout North America. Members pay a yearly subscription fee to have access to the libraries collections. A basic membership grants you access to the general collection, which is of decent size, and spans books written, or published, in the last hundred years or so. There is a slight emphasis in the collection on theological and occult subject matter among the non-fiction and reference materials, but otherwise no indication of the libraries true nature.

To those who are aware of and a part of the greater magical community, the Oroboros Libraries are outposts of the Ordo Venatorum de Magicis Malignis, if slightly indirectly so in command structure.  They are repositories of magical knowledge, and a neutral gathering place for the various magical communities. In as much as anything represents a unifying and organizing force of community for all the different cultures and subcultures among the supernaturaly aware, the Oroboros Libraries does so.

Theoretically, each branch library's Director is independent, and answers only to the Council of Elders and Father Superior of the Ordo Venatorum de Magicis Malignis. In practice, the prevailing opinions of the political manueverings of the groups of magicaly aware both on a local, and not so local level play a role in who is chosen to be a director, and sufficient socio-political pressure can cause the Ordo Venatorum to remove a Director. Directors of large branches in populous areas usually have a great deal of sway and influence over the community. Those in less populous areas, less so.

The first level of membership, associated with a pewter oroboros sigil embossed on the library card issued to the member, is available to anyone who wishes to pay the yearly membership fee. The fee seems a bit hefty considering the current widespread availability of public libraries, but before they were common place, this level of membership was actually more widely utilized. It is still considered a worthy investment by many of the unaware, particularly those with an interest in theology or the occult.

The second level of membership is only available to those who are fully aware and acknowledge that magic is real. This grants access to the works that are usually only shared among members of magical communities of one kind or another, and works that are not usually shared outside those communities. Members at this level recieve a copper pin that links to the sigil emblazoned on their library card, and allows them access to the areas of the library that contain materials not available to the unaware, and to the community study areas and meeting rooms that are only available to the magically aware.

The third level of membership is for scholars of the occult, or history buffs among the various magical communities. Members of this level are issued a silver pin, tied to the silver sigil on their library card. This level allows access to esoteric and rare tomes.  These often fragile and/or ancient books make up a much higher percentage of the library's collection then the majority of members would suspect. To be able to handle the works freely and without extreme supervision, members at this level must demonstrate that they know and respect the type of extreme care that must be taken not to damage the vessals that contain the knowledge they seek, as well as the caution that must be excersised to avoid taking damage from magic that author may have woven in to protect the precious knowledge they were inscribing on the pages.

The Oroboros Library also serves a second purposes, that of esablishing order and maintaining peace among the various communities among the magically aware, supernatural creatures, and even the magically unaware. The Custodes Pacis, or Peace Keepers and the Custodes Populorum, or Guardians, server as the closest thing to a police force the magically aware have.

Custos Pacis is one of the job titles given to the librarians of the Oroboros Library system.  Custodes Pacis are among those who keep the peace at the library itself, which can be tricky since so many different magical communities utilize it.  They also serve to mediate when there is a conflict between different communities when there are disputes that look to escalate and endanger the welfare of those in the magical communities involved as well as those who have no involvement.  They are often asked to investigate when one community feels their members are being preyed upon, magically or not, by members of another community, or asked for assistance in navigating more traditional non-magical governmental power structures when legislation is proposed or enacted that negatively effects a magical community.  For example, during certain periods of heightened security during WWII, having nighttime curfews was something of an issue for those who drew their power from the moon, and so on and so forth.  The Peacekeepers, as the younger generations of the Ordo Venatorum often call them, are the ones that generally find solutions to that sort of issue.

Peacekeepers are also investigators.  They figure out what is going on when there are problems of a non-violent or mostly non-violent nature affecting multiple communities.  A rash of thefts in the local community that have hints that they are being committed using magic is something the peacekeepers would investigate. 

That is not to say they are themselves non-violent, merely that there primary job is to handle issues that are primarily non-violent or involve interaction between different magical communities, or between magical communities and non-magical authorities.  Keeping things from errupting into violence often involves being, or appearing to be, so much more of a threat then the rest of the people present that they decide it is wiser to act in a civilized manner and discuss things rather then start a fight of a physical or metaphysical nature, if not necessarily discuss things using the politest language.  Peacekeepers do, however, tend to focus on defensive magic and combat techniques.

Custos Populorum is the other secondary title given to librarians at the Oroboros Library.  Called Guardians by the younger members of the Ordo Venatorum, they are essentially protectors.  The Custodes Pacis can call on them for backup when they feel an issue is requires a more aggressive approach, or when they feel a situation is likely to erupt into chaos and violence despite their best efforts.  Whether masters of combative magics, or simply masters of combat, they are exceedingly dangerous individuals.  If a Custos Pacis often fulfill the role of a local sheriff for the collective communities that form the magically aware world, the Custodes Populorum are more like the marshals.  They handle the extremely dangerous situations, and often are forced to use lethal force, despite the fact that they only use that level of force when there is a clear and present danger to people, not property. 

They handle cases of bullying by one magical community of another, murder by magic, and serial killers that either target members of the magical communities or are themselves a member of the magically aware.  They also handle magical creatures that prey on humans, be they sentient or not.

The Director of a particular branch, Custodes Populorum, Custodes Pacis, and all Librareans recieve an Identification Badge with a gold sigil and a gold pin. All other employees recieve identification badges with iron sigils and an iron pin. In addition to the more modern electronic key system the sigil on the badge is enchanted to give access to only those areas a particular employee should have access to, and to raise an alarm if they are in areas they should not be.

Among those who are issued a gold sigil on their badge, there are differences based on position. The eye of the oroboros on the pin of a director of a branch is purple, for Custodes Pacis, the eye is blue, for Custodes Populorum, red, and for non-Custodes Librarians, the eye is green.